The disciple of Jesus is called an apostle.
An apostle is a disciple who followed Jesus and was in charge of preaching his message. The etymological journey of the term begins in the Greek language ( apostlos ) and continues in Latin ( apostŏlus ) before reaching our language .
According to Christian tradition, the apostles were twelve: John , James the Less , James the Greater , Matthew (also known as Levi ), Andrew , Simon , Bartholomew (called in some cases Nathanael of Cana ), Simon the Canaanite , Judas Thaddeus , Thomas (or Didymus ), Philip of Bethsaida and Judas Iscariot . They were all chosen by Jesus , whom they knew personally and for whom they gave their lives . The traitor Judas Iscariot was then replaced by Matthias , selected by lot.
The Apostle Judas Iscariot
It must be established that all of these apostles were natives of Galilee , with the exception of Judas Iscariot . There are various theories regarding its origin: there are those who say that it was from Judea , while others say that it was from Issachar .
An interesting fact that is not well known is that, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ , Judas committed suicide. After that event, the rest of the apostles met to find his replacement and the chosen one was the aforementioned Matías .
Christian tradition recognizes twelve apostles.
Spreading the word of Jesus
Beyond that belief held by the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church , some religious sectors consider Barnabas , Silas , Paul of Tarsus , Timothy and other people who spread the word of Jesus to be apostles.
Likewise, there are also groups that believe that current preachers are apostles.
The Apostle James
Currently, one of the apostles who has the most followers is James the Greater , known as the apostle James . In the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela is his temple, the Cathedral , where thousands of people come year after year to pray to him . Many of these are pilgrims who have made the famous Camino de Santiago , which ends at the aforementioned religious construction where their remains are considered to rest.
This is a fundamentally religious pilgrimage of medieval origin that has the distinction of being the oldest among those maintained on the European continent.
Another meaning of the term
Based on these notions, the individual who is responsible for spreading certain ideas or doctrines is called an apostle. For example: "The new Minister of Economy is an apostle of neoliberalism" , "The apostles of socialism have done a lot of damage to this country" , "Five years ago I decided to be an apostle of the environmental movement" .
Precisely because of this meaning that is also given to the term, Mahatma Gandhi is considered "the apostle of nonviolence." In the same way, in Cuba José Martí is mentioned as the "apostle of independence."
Apostles in Argentina
Apóstoles , finally, is the name of a department and a city in the Argentine province of Misiones .
The area is considered the Capital of Yerba Mate since its territory is home to many plantations of this species that is used for the preparation of mate, cooked mate and tereré.